Smarter Gov Tech, Stronger MerITocracy
IT workers workforce technology federal employees-min

In addition to facing cyber threats from nation-states, both government and private organizations have been the victims of an increased volume of ransomware attacks from criminal organizations over the last two years. A Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official emphasized this week that organizations need to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity on their systems in order to guard against the uptick in ransomware attacks. […]

The threat landscape has shifted drastically amid the COVID-19 pandemic as more and more organizations and governments deal with emerging cyberattacks and ransomware threats. Pure Storage, an IT leader delivering a portfolio of modern data solutions and services, has continued to provide organizations with innovative solutions to mitigate these threats with its portfolio of data protection tools. […]

cybersecurity

Chris Inglis, the nation’s first-ever National Cyber Director, is building out his office with an inaugural strategic intent statement, as well as the addition of Federal Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Chris DeRusha who will have a dual designation as the deputy national cyber director for Federal cybersecurity. […]

Cloud Computing Brainstorm 2019 - Sean Connelly

The Trusted Internet Connections (TIC) 3.0 program office at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released its TIC 3.0 remote user case document, and a TIC 3.0 Cloud Use Case document is also in the works, program lead and CISA Senior Cybersecurity Architect Sean Connelly said today. […]

cybersecurity
Cybersecurity
Cyber

The transition to zero trust security architectures is integral to the U.S. Department of the Army’s modernization efforts, said Army CIO Raj Iyer during an FCW virtual roundtable on October 27 where he explained security challenges that the service branch is facing and how the move to zero trust security concepts will help. […]

cybersecurity

In the face of increasing cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and growing service demands on the electric grid, members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Government Operations and Border Management Subcommittee discussed the need for greater Federal investments in protecting the grid and ensuring abundant power supplies at an October 27 hearing. […]

With an evolving cyber threat landscape and adversaries that are growing more sophisticated by the day, National Security Agency (NSA) Director Gen. Paul Nakasone – who also heads United States Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) – today pointed to partnership and collaboration as the best way to protect the nation from cyber threats. […]

The Defense Departments (DoD) Joint AI Center (JAIC) is looking to fill the position of the DoD Responsible AI (RAI) program lead to develop and promulgate policies, practices, guidance, and metrics for DoD for developing and procuring AI. […]

Long-time Federal government IT and cybersecurity leader Karen Evans is heading to the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) – a New York-based nonprofit that aims to advance the cyber readiness of small and medium-sized businesses in order to improve the security of global supply chains – as the organization’s managing director. […]

The adoption of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies in business and management areas of the Defense Department (DoD) is “catching fire,” and RPA is firming up to become a gateway for the use of more sophisticated technologies such as artificial intelligence, a DoD official said on Oct. 26 at an online event organized by FCW. […]

Robot

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has gone in just a few short years from a few scattered pilot projects to an essential tool deployed by dozens of agencies. In the process, Federal agency IT leaders have found that automation at scale comes with challenges, and they shared some of their best practices for and lessons learned for integrating RPA into existing systems at an FCW virtual workshop on October 26. […]

State Department

After fits and starts reaching back over the last two years, the State Department has unveiled plans to establish a new Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, along with an envoy for critical and emerging technology, State Department spokesperson Ned Price announced at a press briefing this week. […]

cybersecurity

Microsoft is warning that it has seen Nobelium – the Russian nation-state threat group responsible for the SolarWinds software supply chain hack – trying to recreate the same approach that allowed it to gain access to Federal government systems, according to an Oct. 24 blog post from the company. […]

The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) released a new paper on October 25 that details what it calls onerous implementation requirements of the government’s Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Program, and offered eight recommendations to improve the program. […]

cybersecurity

With cyberattacks on the rise, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced legislation in the House this week that would require the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess the agency’s cybersecurity incident response procedures and propose improvements. […]

CISA

An official at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is applauding the work of a private cybersecurity firm that, in collaboration with CISA, helped victims of the BlackMatter ransomware group, according to a new report from the New York Times. […]

Data

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) announced that it will prioritize industry outreach efforts in U.S. technology sectors as they relate to economic and national security, including tech-heavy areas such as AI, bio-economy, autonomous systems, quantum information science and technology, and semiconductors. […]

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Thune, R-S.D., have introduced a bill to create a new council that would oversee Federal investments and policy development of next-generation communications technology including sixth-generation – or 6G – wireless tech. […]

Military Data Center

The Defense Department’s (DoD) information system for tracking capability documents that identify new or enhanced capabilities in weapon systems doesn’t have reliable data on how many programs have gone through a revised process. […]

supply chain risk management process automation
AI

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced a bill Oct. 21 that would look to better secure and protect the data that Federal contractors collect when using artificial intelligence (AI) and make clear that the government is the ultimate owner of contractor-collected AI data. […]

FCC
quantum computing AI min

A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on development of quantum information technologies covers the general waterfront on the current status of the technologies, but notes that development of game-changing systems are probably still ten years and billions of dollars of further investments away.  […]

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